Best Cashback Credit Card At Different Spend Levels

Jedlet

Hi Guys,

MSE's cashback credit card article states that the "Amex Platinum Everyday" is better than the "Amex Platinum Cashback" if you're planning to spend less than £10,000 in the year and vice versa.

The "Key info" for both credit cards seems to imply that you've got the bonus rate on your first bit of spend, then the worse rate on your next bit, then the best rate on everything after that.

So for the Everyday that would mean if you spent £10,000, you'd get 5% cashback on £2,000, 0.5% on £5,000 and 1% on £3,000, a total of £155. Conversely, on the Cashback you'd get 5% on £2,500 and 1% on £7,500, or £200, subtract the £25 fee and that's £175. So with that interpretation the Cashback is better than the Everyday at £10k, and would even be better at anything above £3,000 (2000*0.05+0.05*1000 = 2500*0.05+500*0.01-25). But before reading that key info my interpretation would have been, in the cash of the Cashback, that you get the promotional rate on the first £2,500, the low rate on the next £7,500 (taking you to a total of £10,000 spend), and the 1.25% rate on anything else.

Am I interpreting this incorrectly, where is the cut-off to swap from the Everyday to the Cashback? If you spend £12,500 on the Cashback do you get 5% on £2,500, 1% on £7,500 and 1.25% on £2,500, or 5% on £2,500 and 1% on £10,000?

jbrassy

This question has been asked numerous times and I've done all the maths in the following spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rZouflfUDeghKt9At9mwezrbCjm_jL4KCsksAP8cHS0/edit#gid=0

Basically:

• If you spend less than £5,000 a year, you should get the fee-free Everyday card.
• If you spend between £5,000 - £10,000 a year, it doesn't matter which card you get.
• If you spend more than £10,000 a year, you should get the card which charges a £25 annual fee.

Personally I have the one with a £25 fee as I easily spend more than £5,000 a year and there's always a chance I could spend more than £10,000 if I make one or two big purchases during the year.

As for the intro bonuses, they're equivalent to each other. With the Everyday (zero fee) card, you get 5% bonus cashback up to £100. With the £25 annual fee card you get 5% cashback up to £125. If you net the £25 fee off the £125 bonus cashback, you end up with £100, so effectively the extra £25 bonus cashback just covers your fee for the first year. 

ratechaser

jbrassy said:

This question has been asked numerous times and I've done all the maths in the following spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rZouflfUDeghKt9At9mwezrbCjm_jL4KCsksAP8cHS0/edit#gid=0

Basically:

• If you spend less than £5,000 a year, you should get the fee-free Everyday card.
• If you spend between £5,000 - £10,000 a year, it doesn't matter which card you get.
• If you spend more than £10,000 a year, you should get the card which charges a £25 annual fee.

Personally I have the one with a £25 fee as I easily spend more than £5,000 a year and there's always a chance I could spend more than £10,000 if I make one or two big purchases during the year.

As for the intro bonuses, they're equivalent to each other. With the Everyday (zero fee) card, you get 5% bonus cashback up to £100. With the £25 annual fee card you get 5% cashback up to £125. If you net the £25 fee off the £125 bonus cashback, you end up with £100, so effectively the extra £25 bonus cashback just covers your fee for the first year. 

And you can add to that the benefit of referral bonuses - right now if you get a referral, you can pick up another £35 for opening the £25/year platinum card. Is there anything similar for the free one?

That said, it also begs the question about whether you are looking at value over the first year, or longer term...

JES_F1

ratechaser said:

right now if you get a referral, you can pick up another £35 for opening the £25/year platinum card. Is there anything similar for the free one?

I've got the the free one and the referral bonus is currently £30 (£20 plus an extra £10) until 12 May.

It's also worth going through a cashback site like Quidco, which is currently offering £12 for the Everyday Cashback and £16 for the Cashback.  

jbrassy

I have the £25 annual fee card and the referral bonus is £40. Anyone who is interested can private message me. 

ratechaser

jbrassy said:

I have the £25 annual fee card and the referral bonus is £40. Anyone who is interested can private message me. 

I think £40 is what the existing holder receives - it's £35 for the new applicant that's been referred... unless you have a different referral offer to the rest of us cardholders?

ratechaser

JES_F1 said:

ratechaser said:

right now if you get a referral, you can pick up another £35 for opening the £25/year platinum card. Is there anything similar for the free one?

I've got the the free one and the referral bonus is currently £30 (£20 plus an extra £10) until 12 May.

It's also worth going through a cashback site like Quidco, which is currently offering £12 for the Everyday Cashback and £16 for the Cashback.  

Referrals are via a specific link though, so unless you know otherwise, I don't think you can stack a TCB/Quidco bonus on top?

jbrassy

ratechaser said:

jbrassy said:

I have the £25 annual fee card and the referral bonus is £40. Anyone who is interested can private message me. 

I think £40 is what the existing holder receives - it's £35 for the new applicant that's been referred... unless you have a different referral offer to the rest of us cardholders?

That's the same offer I have.

And no, you can't stack a Quidco cashback offer on top of a friend's referral. It's one or the other. 

The_Urbanite

Truth be told these products are not exciting. Better cashback has been available elsewhere.

One example - https://swipe.io/cards

Up to 8% - they pay out without fail on all but the excluded cash-like type transactions.

ratechaser

The_Urbanite said:

Truth be told these products are not exciting. Better cashback has been available elsewhere.

One example - https://swipe.io/cards

Up to 8% - they pay out without fail on all but the excluded cash-like type transactions.

Oh goody, yet another crypto card, like there aren't enough of those already... don't tell me, one of the versions is made of some rare metal, so you can pretend you are part of a real elite, like being a Centurion card holder...?  But wait... what is this comment at the bottom of the page:

"Services are not available in the Republic of the Philippines and the United Kingdom."

Anyway, whatever works for you... I'll stick with my less exciting cards thanks.

The_Urbanite

ratechaser said:

The_Urbanite said:

Truth be told these products are not exciting. Better cashback has been available elsewhere.

One example - https://swipe.io/cards

Up to 8% - they pay out without fail on all but the excluded cash-like type transactions.

Oh goody, yet another crypto card, like there aren't enough of those already... don't tell me, one of the versions is made of some rare metal, so you can pretend you are part of a real elite, like being a Centurion card holder...?  But wait... what is this comment at the bottom of the page:

"Services are not available in the Republic of the Philippines and the United Kingdom."

Anyway, whatever works for you... I'll stick with my less exciting cards thanks.

I’ve had one since October last year and it’s still going strong! It’s not made of any special material. Despite it being a crypto card it has fiat currencies in the wallet. I’ve been spending in normal currency throughout. 

I just gave it as an example of a card where better cashback rates have been available. Other options are out there and may net people more cashback than the credit cards that are paying pitiful rates.